By: Daniel Herrick, Huskie Athletics
SASKATOON – The Mount Royal University Cougars finished off their second straight victory, 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22), over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday night at the PAC.
Mount Royal improves to 8-8 with the weekend sweep of the Huskies after also recording a 3-1 win on Friday night. Saskatchewan falls to 7-11 on the season.
Emily Humbert recorded a match-high 17 kills in the loss. Humbert's kill percentage was .448 in the match to go along with her three digs. Taylor Annala added another 13 kills and nine digs for Saskatchewan. Libero Jennifer Hueser posted 17 digs on the night.
For Mount Royal, Taylor Pelland led the offensive attack with 11 kills. Pelland and Chantel Park each finished with three service aces. Madi Quinn ended the night with 16 digs for the Cougars.
Mount Royal took the first two sets by identical 25-19 scores. The Cougars made five errors in the opening two sets compared to 17 errors by the Huskies. Mount Royal made just 14 attack errors on the night, while Saskatchewan finished with 36.
The two teams traded points back and forth in the opening set before the Cougars went on a 7-2 burst to jump ahead and another 6-2 spurt to lead 18-10. Saskatchewan battled back to make it 19-17, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Errors hurt the Huskies again in the second set as Mount Royal led start to finish. The Cougars held a seven point lead by the midway point and finished off the set 25-19.
An intense third set saw the two schools trade points until tied at 10. Saskatchewan would go on a four-point run to lead 14-10. After trailing 16-12, the Cougars regrouped with a timeout and managed to take a 17-16 lead. Three Emmalyn Copping kills put the Huskies back in front 21-17, a lead they would hold 25-21 to force a fourth set.
Mount Royal built up an early 7-3 lead in the fourth set. The Huskies were not ready to be done for the weekend and worked their way back into the lead at 10-9. Errors continued to haunt the Huskies in this match as the Cougars went on a 11-2 run, taking advantage of a handful of Saskatchewan miscues. With the set at 20-12 the Cougars seemed poised to coast to the finish, until a late Huskie surge nearly extended the match to five. Saskatchewan limited its errors and put home four kills in a run that saw them close the gap to 24-22. Mount Royal would close the match on the next play, ending any hopes the hometown crowd had for a comeback.
Mount Royal plays a home-and-home with the Calgary Dinos next weekend. Saskatchewan hosts the MacEwan Griffins next weekend at the PAC.